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October 05, 2018

Managing a Reactive Dog : Imogen's Story

Barking, growling, hackles up, lunging at the end of the leash. This is what someone might see if they encounter Imogen out on a walk. The first words that come to mind might be “mean” or “aggressive,” but in reality she’s what we call a reactive dog.

Reactivity in dogs refers to a strong reaction to a specific object, commonly called a trigger. Reactive behaviors can include things like barking, growling, whining and lunging, and such reactions can have different causes. Imogen is what we call fearful reactive – her fear of an object causes her to bark, growl and lunge at it. And the poor girl is afraid of practically everything: strangers, other dogs, bikes, motorcycles, scooters, strollers, runners. Walking her is a minefield, because she’s constantly encountering something that scares her. I always picture her as a small animal on a nature documentary: confronted with a predator, she puffs herself up and tries to appear as fearsome as possible so the predator will decide she isn’t worth the trouble.

Imogen says, "I am not scary! I just want to play!"

The reality, though, is that despite her fear I can’t have Imogen losing her mind every 5 seconds on our walks. I’m sure she terrifies people left and right, and I’m starting to get some not-too-friendly looks from folks in my neighborhood. Not to mention, I can’t be yanked around constantly while she barks at things. Luckily, the Richmond SPCA was there to rescue her three years ago, and it was there after we adopted to help her again.

Given who she is, the Richmond SPCA adopted Imogen out to me with a scholarship for their Managing a Reactive Dog class. We started in July, and the first class was for humans only. Our trainer, the incredible Alisha Fritz, asked the students about our dogs and started helping us to build a foundation for managing their reactivity. We learned about the causes of reactivity, how dogs learn, clicker training, proper walking equipment, and what we can do to help our dogs feel safe around triggers. The next week we packed up the pup, her toys, her treats, and we headed to class.

The classroom was set up in little cubbies for each dog, covered in sheets so that they couldn’t see each other. Each dog and owner pair stayed in their cubby while Alisha talked about what new skill we would learn, and then she selected a couple of dogs at a time to come out into the wider training space to practice. She gave us what she calls a toolbox: a selection of things we can do to manage reactivity. We learned how to build positive associations with triggers, how to make focusing on the handler more rewarding than reacting to the trigger, how to keep dogs from noticing triggers, and how to smoothly move away from them if need be. Most importantly, we learned to create a safe space for our dogs, showing them that they can trust us to follow through on our promise to protect them.

Imogen begins training in her personal cubby.

Imogen and I picked up some new tips that have proven extremely helpful in managing her reactivity! My favorite result of the reactive dog class has been Imogen’s improvement at the “watch me” command. For dogs who are not reactive, this asks them to focus on their handler: the handler says “watch me” and the dog is supposed to give direct eye contact. Imogen and I had tried this over and over in the past, me thinking that if she could just focus on me, I could help her feel safe. But we never had any luck. The trouble was, of course, that she was so extremely terrified she didn’t feel comfortable taking her eyes off the trigger – not even for a second. In class, Alisha taught me that this behavior can be modified for reactive dogs, asking them to simply look in their handler’s general direction rather than making direct eye contact. It asks for less of a commitment from them, which still rewarding them for paying attention to their handler. We tried that, and Imogen has had much more success! Now, sometimes when a trigger is present she looks at me before I can even ask. She’s still scared, but she’s slowly overcoming her fear and trusting me to take care of her.

Michelle and her husband at Imogen's graduation.

Alisha told us from day one that this class is not designed to "fix" reactive dogs, and I know that Imogen will likely always be afraid. But because of this class I know she’ll continue to improve with time and practice. Until then, not only do I have easier walks and a quieter dog, but she and I also have a stronger relationship. I understand her needs, she trusts me to protect her, and life is happier for everyone.

The Richmond SPCA offers a wide array of training classes for fearful or reactive dogs. Visit https://www.richmondspca.org/training to learn about how our experienced trainers can help your dog acclimate and feel comfortable in his or her surroundings.

Michelle Russell is the coordinator of volunteers and programs for the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.